BURIED ALIVE

Buried Alive is part of Dimension’s new direct to video line “Extreme”. Direct to video films are often a sign that is just wasn’t good enough for anything else, but definitely not the case here. The cast features Tobin Bell, of Saw fame, as a grounds keeper at a desert ranch owns by a family that got rich off the gold rush of the 1880s. Past that, the biggest name is Terrance Jay, who starred in the film Hooligans. Steve Sandvoss and Germaine De Leon have fairly extensive histories as walk on characters in TV, but little in the film arena. Then of course there are the women of the film. Lindsey Scott, a beautiful blonde, who gets topless (so you know what happens to her), Erin Lokitz, a stunning brunette, who plays a sorority pledge, and the film stars Leah Rachel, who I thought I had seen before, but has little to offer apparently in acting experience prior to this film.

The film was directed by Robert Kurtzman of From Dusk Till Dawn fame, but with this in mind, the film is sorely lacking in gore scenes. The scenes that are there are glorious for sure, but considering the content and the occupation of the director, I for one was looking for a few more gruesome shots. But, for a direct to DVD film, Kurtman has put together a stellar collection of shots, cinematography and sound. You will be hard pressed to find the quality that this film contains in many other similar releases. This is as professional as they get. Well in line with the success of the Masters of Horror line that managed to produce extreme quality on a minimal budget, you see no issues or shortages on this film. There are a few slow points, but that is more plot that direction.

The story revolves around Rene and Zane. Cousins, who’s Grandfather got rich when he discovered a large gold vain a hundred years earlier. The problem is, the gold has disappeared, and there is a sorted past in the family with a missing Grandmother, a burned down house and three dead relatives in that fire. When the two return to their family’s ranch, with their computer geek friend, Rene’s boyfriend and two sorority pledges, things start to get weird, especially when they meet the grounds keeper Lester (Bell). You know right from the start that people are going to die. But you don’t know why, and it is up to the kids to figure it out before they themselves buy it. The answers are all there, you can even figure it out if you pay close attention, but they do a great job of throwing curve balls. But the best part actually is the end. It doesn’t end up the way one would expect, which is the best part of the film. I was actually surprised they would end a film this way and was actually happy they did. So despite the lack of gore, I have to really recommend this one.